The elemental constituents of biological material are of \ital concern to many disciplines of research, particularly physiology, nutrition, and medicine. It is common knowledge that certain inorganic ions must be available for plants and animals to grow, survive, and reproduce. Conversely, many ions are toxic when present in excessan axiom of primary concern to researchers in environmental pollution. The advent of the .Atomic Age. and the realization that all elements can be made radioactive, magnified the importance of ions in living material, especially in man. Chemical elements that occur in living material are commonly di\ided into two groups, major elements and trace elements, the line of demarcation being somewhat arbitrarily set at 0.01 percent of an organism (Schroeder 1965:217). or at roughly .S.OOO-1 0.000 ppm in tissue ash. However, as Schroeder points out. this distinction is not always applicable when high concentrations of trace elements occur in special cases. Some trace elementsthose having a physiological function for at least one organismare known to be essential, while othersthose for which no function has yet been discoveredare '"nonessential." Many of the "nonessential" ions accumulate in living organisms as the organisms increase in age. a phenomenon that has recently been associated with certain diseases in man (Schroeder 1965:225-226). This paper reports the concentrations of five major elements and 18 trace elements in selected body parts (blood, bones, fat, feathers, muscles, and internal organs) of 54 hen pheasants (Phasianiis cokhicus) collected from three areas in Illinois. The analyses were conducted during an investigation of the possible effects of inorganic ions on the distribution and abundance of pheasants in this midwestern state. Portions of the analyses, as well as analyses of soil, grit, and corn, have been published elsewhere under the title "Relationships between Inorganic Ions and the Distribution of Pheasants in Illinois" (Anderson & Stewart 1969). Because of their potential contribution to many areas of research, the analyses of the pheasants' body parts are presented in their entirety in this publication. So that comparisons of data may be made easilv, all tables follow the Literature Cited section. This paper is published by authority of the State of Illinois. IRS Ch. 127. Par. 58.12. William L, .\nderson is an Associate Wildlife Specialist.

Analyses for trace elements were made on diets and excreta of two subjects on ad libitum diets for 30 days. The intake of each element was essentially the same for the two individuals. For the essential elements calcium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus the subjects were in balance and the patterns of excretion were the same. For minor trace elements, essential and nonessential, the excretory patterns differed widely. Estimates ofh for strontium based on fecal and urinary excretion gave values of 0.50 and 0.39; estimates based on urinary excretion gave values of 0.26 and 0.5 1.T o OBTAIN an idea of the average amounts and day-today variations of trace elements in ordinary diets and excreta, the Trace Elements Laboratory in the Physics Department of the University of Tennessee with the cooperation of the Nutrition Department of the University of Tennessee set up a 30-day study from 12 June through 11 July, 1963.Two subjects, husband and wife, ages 35 and 34, who for several years had maintained weights of-1 65 and -1 36 lb respectively saved carefully weighed duplicate samples of all food ingested and all excreta. All fluids except water, tea and coffee were included in the daily samples of food. A record was kept of the daily intake of water, tea and coffee, and samples of each were supplied for analyses.Although the diets were basically the same for

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An emission spectrochemical method is described for the determination of trace quantities of platinum, lead, and manganese in biological tissues. Total energy burns in an argon-oxygen atmosphere are employed. Sample preparation, conditions of analysis, and preparation of standards are discussed. The precision of the method is consistently better than +/- 15%, and comparative analyses indicate comparable accuracies. Data obtained for experimental rat tissues and for selected autopsy tissues are presented.

An emission spectrochemical method is described for the determination of trace quantities of platinum, lead, and manganese in biological tissues. Total energy burns in an argon-oxygen atmosphere are employed. Sample preparation, conditions of analysis, and preparation of standards are discussed. The precision of the method is consistently better than +15%, and comparative analyses indicate comparable accuracies. Data obtained for experimental rat tissues and for selected autopsy tissues are presented.

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